Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Hacks, Apple
Apple sends takedown notice to iPod hacker's ISP
Yesterday, Erica posted in her state of the iPod touch jailbreak that a hacker named "Martyn" had obtained a broken iPod touch, and was planning to dive in and download every bit of code on it in the increasingly complicated effort to put 3rd party applications on the iPod touch. He didn't plan to release the code to the public, but he did plan to upload the code to a secured area of his site in order to let the other touch hackers have a crack at it.But even before his upload finished, we're told, his ISP showed up, with a takedown notice in hand. Apple had somehow found his site, had contacted his ISP, and let them know that it would be against copyright law for him to upload that code to the Internet. Martyn isn't interested in breaking the law (and it would be illegal to share that code), so he pulled the page off. But what's amazing here is how fast Apple moved on this-- either they've got someone listening in on the development wiki, or they're taking cues from us on how things are going over there (hi, Apple!).
Despite what we've heard before, clearly they are very, very interested in making sure the iPod touch doesn't get hacked. Martyn tells me, as has Erica, that Apple has clearly gone out of their way to keep hackers out of their latest iPod. We're also told that progress continues despite all that, but Apple is apparently bending over backwards to do everything they can to keep the iPod touch closed.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Cycomachead said 11:25PM on 9-25-2007
Wow. Something is getting fishy. I wonder if the touch reveals something good (or bad) about Leopard. It has the 3D ish dock and some other things like that.
I've been getting mad at Apple for their attitude towards stuff like this- but this now seems more like true Apple secrecy.
Reply
Steve Pan said 11:30PM on 9-25-2007
Apple's escalation is getting ridiculous. Whether or not you throw around takedown notices like popcorn doesn't make a jot of difference. In the end, the device will be broken into nonetheless. Apple's just earning themselves some well deserved ill will with this move.
Reply
Harish said 11:37PM on 9-25-2007
Perhaps they're planning on releasing a more open PDA esque product? Actually I doubt that.
Reply
Will Angel said 11:41PM on 9-25-2007
Here's to the crazy ones, who use the applications that we tell them to.
Reply
Jake Geiser said 11:38PM on 9-25-2007
There has to be something in the code that Apple doesn't want us to see, whether it be a countdown clock to make the device start to fail after x amount of hours on (like my conspiracy theorists like to believe is in all iPod, imo its not there), or some Leopard features that Apple is yet to announce, or there is capibilities that the iPhone AND the touch have that Apple doesn't want people knowing about (secret backdoors and the like).
Reply
Rubbinz said 11:40PM on 9-25-2007
If "Martyn" were to have done it the right way, he would have put the code on Pirate Bay and make mention of it on his blog.
Do it the correct way next time "Martyn".
Reply
Nate said 12:01AM on 9-26-2007
Maybe they just REALLY want to keep the iPod touch from cannibalizing iPhone sales by making sure no one could load any more functionality on it.
Reply
Bryan Law said 11:47PM on 9-25-2007
So this delays them, oh, what, an hour?
All I can say to them is: Don't give up! I'm rooting for you!
Reply
pillowcase said 12:00AM on 9-26-2007
Why make it so sensationalized... So Apple is protecting their copyrights... OMGZ
And for them to go and try and enforce their copyrights is not the same as trying to "keep hackers out of their latest iPod" - they are separate issues.
Now if I posted on my blog that I was going to hack my iPod by my lonesome at home, and they come and knock on my door... that would be different. :) But that is not what is happening here.
Reply
punkassjim said 12:11AM on 9-26-2007
@ all commenters
Do absolutely none of you care about intellectual property? I mean jesus, if Nokia is gonna reverse-engineer their own version of an iPhone, or some other company is gonna do the same for the iPod Touch...do you really want to do part of their work for them?
No offense, but if you can't be bothered to (at the very least) understand why Apple is vigilant about protecting their intellectual property, then tell me...how safe are YOUR rights gonna be when the time comes? The whole "look out for the little guy, screw the big corporation" mentality is no better than "look out for the company, screw the little guy."
Reply
Rafe H. said 12:06AM on 9-26-2007
"Maybe they just REALLY want to keep the iPod touch from cannibalizing iPhone sales by making sure no one could load any more functionality on it."
Like Mail, Notes, Maps, Stocks, Weather, etc. I wonder if said binaries from the iPhone work just as well on the iPod.
Reply
James F said 12:12AM on 9-26-2007
Doggone it Apple.
Are you going to release an SDK? Sell me a Mail app for the iTouch? (I'll pay extra for it) Open up an iApps area in the iTunes store to sell me games and utilities? Do something man.
Reply
Jesse Gillespie said 12:15AM on 9-26-2007
This kind of crippling mid-range products in order to differentiate them from the high-end has a distinctly microsoftian ring to it. iPod Premium Ultimate Edition, anyone?
Reply
Dogzilla said 12:37AM on 9-26-2007
"But what's amazing here is how fast Apple moved on this-- either they've got someone listening in on the development wiki, or they're taking cues from us on how things are going over there (hi, Apple!)."
OMG! Apple has people on the payroll that are as intelligent as the average TUAW reader? Who would have thought? I smell conspiracy and nefarious corporate workings!
C'mon people. If you tell the internet that you're going to do something that you *know* is of legal interest to a particular company that is well-known for defending it's intellectual property, how can you possibly be the least bit surprised when they react? Assuming that your brain still works, that is.
I have a lot of admiration for the intellectual prowess of these hackers. But I am equally amazed at their constantly displayed lack of common sense.
Reply
Scott said 12:26AM on 9-26-2007
Good for Apple!!
Reply
PSM said 12:27AM on 9-26-2007
Jeez, Apple. What the hell is the big deal? I have never seen a company try so hard to prevent its products being hacked. Most of the hacks don't even do anything that would make them or their partners lose revenue. There are a lot of people NOT buying these devices right now who might be shelling out $400 if some 3rd-party features were included.
Reply
Tom said 12:57AM on 9-26-2007
I bet they're trying to keep this from coming out because it reveals their "solution" to keeping iPhone unlockers out, which they're releasing later this week.
It sure would be embarrassing if that new security was broken before the update was released...
Reply
Tom said 1:00AM on 9-26-2007
P.S. Martyn... ever heard of Tor?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
Wink wink.
Reply
Green Lantern said 1:05AM on 9-26-2007
I'm most certainly on the side of the hackers, and Apple's activities over the the past week's have started to tip me towards the view that Apple people are becoming a55holes. (Guess that's what the "bend over backwards" reference is about.)
However... Apple is fully within its rights to prevent copyrighted code from being published. If Martyn had linked it in a forum at Hackint0sh, it would have been quickly removed by an admin, as they do know how to play by the rules.
(Apple has previously had Hackint0sh shut down while links were fished out of the SQL.)
I hope Martyn hacking efforts show more sense than his hosting ones. At the very least he could have used an anonymized RapidShare link.
And yes, I'm sure Apple is spying.
Reply
Martyn said 1:09AM on 9-26-2007
Apple was well within their rights to request that the firmware not be distributed. On the other hand, releasing it on Pirate Bay, or Tor, goes against the ethics of people who do open source, and are white hat hackers.
So, the "right way" is to simply push on, and find ways to let people dump their own NAND.
Reply